Amazon Fire TV Cube Review

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A smarter smart speaker.

By Justin Rubio

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Amazon has spent years improving its hardware offerings, and its all-new Fire TV Cube (See it on Amazon) is the company's attempt to combine the functionality of its Fire TV streaming stick and Echo smart speaker, forming a "hands free" streaming box powered by Alexa. It's designed to be the centerpiece of your smart home and multimedia setup, and though it's far from perfect, but when it works right, it feels almost magical.

Amazon Fire TV Cube – Design and Features

Despite its name, the Fire TV Cube is not a cube, measuring 3.4-inches wide and thick, and 3-inches tall. Though it's taller than traditional set-top boxes like a Roku or Apple TV it's far from bulky, as it's just a half-inch taller than an Xbox One X. Just like other competing devices, it wasn't hard for me to find a place for it in my TV stand that is already occupied by my stereo receiver, Xbox One, Blu-Ray player, television, router, and modem.

The Fire TV Cube can connect to the internet via Wi-Fi (80211.ac/n/g/a/b) or by Ethernet with an included dongle. Additional ports on the rear side are for power, HDMI, and a port for an infrared extender cable. Along the top of the device are four buttons for controlling speaker volume, initiating Alexa, and muting the microphone.

When finding a home for the Cube, I had to make sure it wasn't tucked away behind cabinet doors or next to my speakers so that its eight far-field microphones would be able to clearly pick up my commands. Like the standard Fire TV, the Cube also includes an Alexa Voice Remote.

The nearly 6-inch-long remote includes a voice button, a circular navigation button, a row of buttons for Home, Back, and Menu, and another row to Pause, Rewind, or Fast Forward. Unfortunately, the remote does not include volume buttons which would be handy, considering the Cube's TV-centric focus.

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It can even control non-"smart" devices...

In addition to controlling smart devices, the Fire TV Cube can even control "dumb" devices like older stereo systems or televisions by utilizing infrared emitters. Setting up the Cube to control my decade-old Sony AV Receiver was a painless experience and in just a couple minutes Alexa could change the volume for my system. With the Cube already linked to my TV via HDMI CEC, when I was done watching a show I could asked Alexa to "turn everything off" and it would shut down my stereo and television with a single command.

Depending on what devices you use, the Cube's functionality can be extended ever further. The Cube and Alexa can be used to change your TV input, change the channel on your cable box, or switch to your OTA antenna. The idea is to make it so you shouldn't need to keep a hundred different remotes lying around.

In terms of content offerings, the Fire TV Cube is identical to the Fire TV 4K, which provides access to a majority of the popular services like Netflix, Hulu, HBO, and Spotify, to name a few. One of the most obvious gaps is the lack of a native YouTube app. Fortunately, the Cube's app store includes web browsers that can access the service. It isn't ideal, but it still works.

The Fire TV Cube also makes use of the same UI as the regular Fire TV, with grids of icons to represent apps and suggested viewing and listening options. Unsurprisingly, Amazon's own services typically take up more screen space than others, but it didn't take much effort to find Netflix and HBO Go recommendations.

An area in which Alexa excels are its Skills. With a simple search through the Alexa phone app I was able to find ways for the assistant to control a variety of smart home devices, tell me new information, or show me games to play. It's like an app store for Alexa, opening the doors for outside developers to add extra abilities to make it even more capable than it is out of the box. It's one of the biggest advantages Alexa has over its competition right now and really broadens the device's feature set by an almost unlimited amount, pending developer interest of course.

Amazon Fire TV Cube – Performance

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...when the Fire TV Cube works as intended, it's almost magical.

As previously stated, when the Fire TV Cube works as intended, it's almost magical. It's as if it was the product designed to show us we're approaching the unified smart home that I've been dreaming of for many years.

For example, it lets me control smart devices like the lights in my home and my security system, while also managing "dumb" products like my television and stereo system, while also giving me access to a plethora of services available through a set-top box and a smart speaker. The best part is all of this is available without the use of a physical remote. To put it succinctly, it's heavenly. During testing, there were periods of time where I wouldn't even think about where my other remotes were located, which is a first for me. They just felt like a thing of the past, and speaking to a virtual assistant was the way that things were now.

Whether speaking at a normal tone from a nearby room, or barking orders over the volume of my stereo, Alexa worked very well. The device was even smart enough to know when it did or didn't need the television. For example, if my TV was off and I asked about the weather, the speaker on the Cube would let me know. If I asked it to play music from one of my Spotify Playlists, it would turn on my television and stereo system and get the party started. If I asked for the weather again, it would show me the forecast on the TV and describe what was happening outside through my stereo. But this wasn't always the case.

While the Fire TV Cube did well with basic commands, at times it would either do nothing or respond in a way that made it sound totally confused. Sometimes when I would say, "turn off everything," it would respond with "I cannot find a device named 'everything.'" Or I'd ask it to shuffle the Spotify playlist it was playing, it wouldn't do anything at all. Requesting that it pause a Disney Go video so my kid could do some chores worked but only sporadically.

Additionally, while the Cube could control some extra devices, others still required me to use a remote. It couldn't control my Roku (which, I'm aware, is a bit redundant), nor could it turn on my Xbox One.

Casually browsing the UI also proved to be an issue for voice controls as well. When utilizing voice controls to search for a movie, it would bring up a small list of numbered options and I would choose which one to select or ask it to show more options. While handy when I couldn't find the remote, it was obvious to me that everything would be done much faster with a remote.

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at times it would either do nothing or respond in a way that made it sound totally confused

With the ability to deliver 4K video with HDR-10 as well as Dolby Atmos audio, and software that can easily be updated with third-party add-ons, the Cube one of the more future-ready home hubs available. But even though it shows us what the future could look like, it also reminded me that we still have a ways to go. When it worked, Amazon's latest gadget quickly made me forget I had plenty of Google streaming devices and a Roku in my house. When it didn't work, though, I felt like pulling out all of my remotes and doing things the old fashioned way just because I knew it would work.

Purchasing Guide

The Fire TV Cube has an MSRP of $119.99 and since it was just released that's the same price you'll find it for on Amazon:

The Verdict

With the power of Amazon's Alexa and Fire TV combined, the Fire TV Cube has the potential to be incredible—and at times, the results are just that. However, the technology still has a lot of room for improvement, and if anything this review showed me we are further from the perfect "smart home" than I thought we'd be by now.

Good

When the Fire TV Cube is firing on all cylinders, it's magical, but it sputters a little too much to be great.